In advance, let me say that I appreciate this kind of thread must have been around since the dawn of the internet, but I am struggling to find information about particular colleges, and choosing one.
I am planning to apply to Oxford to study either Chemistry or Medicine. Am I right in thinking that all teaching done is department based, so there is no difference in teaching based on which college you go to? That said, are there any colleges which are more geared towards Science as opposed to arts?
I am also very keen on sports, and would love to play as many as possible at University. I know that a few of the colleges have fields dedicated for sports, but are there any which are renowned for having good sports facilities, and taking part in a lot of different sports? Likewise, are there any colleges which aren't?
Most of all, I would love to hear of some people's experiences of their own college, and whether they would recommend it.
I am planning on going down to the open day next week, and decided to stay in a college I picked at random from the prospectus (Balliol, if you're interested). Therefore, I would just like to know a bit more information, so I can try and get on a tour for one if any are strongly recommended on here.
In advance, let me say that I appreciate this kind of thread must have been around since the dawn of the internet, but I am struggling to find information about particular colleges, and choosing one.
I am planning to apply to Oxford to study either Chemistry or Medicine. Am I right in thinking that all teaching done is department based, so there is no difference in teaching based on which college you go to?
Most teaching is department-based for those subjects, and departments set the syllabus. There is some teaching within college: usually 1-2 hour-long tutorials per week in Medicine for the first two years; the third year is entirely independent of college.
That said, are there any colleges which are more geared towards Science as opposed to arts?
Only to the extent that a few have relatively high proportions of one or the other (e.g. Keble has lots of scientists).
I am also very keen on sports, and would love to play as many as possible at University. I know that a few of the colleges have fields dedicated for sports, but are there any which are renowned for having good sports facilities, and taking part in a lot of different sports? Likewise, are there any colleges which aren't?
In terms of team\field sports, the successful teams in the last few years have been Keble\Teddy Hall (rugby), St. Catherine's, Worcester (football), St. Anne's (cricket\football). Most are decent at something - generally the smaller colleges fare worse.
Facilities-wise there's some variation - Worcester are notable for having theirs on-site (might be the case for Magdalen too), but it doesn't make all that much difference how comfy your changing rooms are.
Most of all, I would love to hear of some people's experiences of their own college, and whether they would recommend it.
I have had a wonderful time at my college (St. Anne's). I was pooled there having applied to Magdalen. I would very much recommend it for its relaxed atmosphere and lack of pretension, either institution or on the part of the students. You won't get the "traditional Oxford experience" of older colleges but I haven't felt I've missed out, what with singing elsewhere and whoring around formals\parties.
I am planning on going down to the open day next week, and decided to stay in a college I picked at random from the prospectus (Balliol, if you're interested). Therefore, I would just like to know a bit more information, so I can try and get on a tour for one if any are strongly recommended on here.
I did a whistle-stop tour of short stops at lots of colleges, rather than getting a detailed tour, so I don't know whether the tours are any good.
I also picked Balliol randomly when booking open days, and I'm now two years into my chem degree here! I'll also be around for open days - so you'll probably see me there. Just so you know - I'm the one who's neither Northern Irish nor female - Balliol open days are pretty chemist-heavy this year!
I also picked Balliol randomly when booking open days, and I'm now two years into my chem degree here! I'll also be around for open days - so you'll probably see me there. Just so you know - I'm the one who's neither Northern Irish nor female - Balliol open days are pretty chemist-heavy this year!
That's good news, I like a bit of chemistry!
Huw Davies, thank you very much for your brilliant answer, I never expected someone to care enough to answer all my parts!
Just a couple of questions though, if there is some teaching done on colleges, is there any colleges that have particularly renowned tutors for chemistry or medicine? Or are they all pretty much equal?
As for facilities, I didn't really mean changing rooms (although I realise now I worded it wrong). I meant more in terms of the equipment each college has. Are they all relatively well supplied, or do some places have superb equipment while others have creaking goalposts?
I can't tell you how we are for chemistry or medicine, but in case anyone here didn't hear, we did rather well in rowing this year...and I believe the sports facilities at Jowett are quite good.
Obviously I'm biased too but Worcester seems to suit your needs - there aren't really any "sciency" colleges, but we are pretty close to the science area (10-15 min walk/5min bike ride, which is not much compared to the majority of oxford colleges!) have sports fields on site (really does make a difference when you've been out the night before and have to get up for training!) and do pretty well in football and cricket (firsts and seconds won league and cuppers football i think, and firsts won cricket cuppers this year), a random group of worcester people decided to enter some volleyball thing and won that, think we won mixed lacrosse, lots of people get involved in ultimate frisbee/mixed lacrosse etc so basically even if people aren't great at something or haven't done it before they generally get stuck in and have fun... pop in to have a look round after your balliol open day, and if you have any more questions in the meantime just ask!
Obviously I'm biased too but Worcester seems to suit your needs - there aren't really any "sciency" colleges, but we are pretty close to the science area (10-15 min walk/5min bike ride, which is not much compared to the majority of oxford colleges!) have sports fields on site (really does make a difference when you've been out the night before and have to get up for training!) and do pretty well in football and cricket (firsts and seconds won league and cuppers football i think, and firsts won cricket cuppers this year), a random group of worcester people decided to enter some volleyball thing and won that, think we won mixed lacrosse, lots of people get involved in ultimate frisbee/mixed lacrosse etc so basically even if people aren't great at something or haven't done it before they generally get stuck in and have fun... pop in to have a look round after your balliol open day, and if you have any more questions in the meantime just ask!
Worcester surely is one of the furthest from the Science Area? Certainly not closer than any college north of the High Street.
Obviously I'm biased too but Worcester seems to suit your needs - there aren't really any "sciency" colleges, but we are pretty close to the science area (10-15 min walk/5min bike ride, which is not much compared to the majority of oxford colleges!) have sports fields on site (really does make a difference when you've been out the night before and have to get up for training!) and do pretty well in football and cricket (firsts and seconds won league and cuppers football i think, and firsts won cricket cuppers this year), a random group of worcester people decided to enter some volleyball thing and won that, think we won mixed lacrosse, lots of people get involved in ultimate frisbee/mixed lacrosse etc so basically even if people aren't great at something or haven't done it before they generally get stuck in and have fun... pop in to have a look round after your balliol open day, and if you have any more questions in the meantime just ask!
It sounds very good for the sports facilities, I'll definitely try to have a look round next week! (If I can fit it all in, I'm going to Medicine and Chemistry departments, and Balliol college, so it could be a squeeze!)
Location: London (term-time), Liverpool (holidays)
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Re: Would you recommend a college?
I went to a Balliol open day, and the students and tutors were so friendly I applied there. Prepare to fall in love!
(Just to add to the dissent: Worcester is really handily-placed for some things - like lots of the bars and restaurants on the west side of town, and Jericho - but it's probably further from the science area than the Broad and Turl St colleges, Keble, and St. John's (if you use the back gate). And Mansfield, though they don't offer pre-clinical medicine.)
Okay, so it's probably about 7th closest I just always thought the science area was a lot further from Worcester than it actually is - my scientist friends don't jump on their bikes til about 8.58!
jonnyofengland - your afternoon should be free for you to look around other colleges (and the faculties too then i guess), if you think you'll be pushed for time you could visit a college or two the evening you arrive - if it's not too late, colleges generally let prospective applicants in to have a look around even outside visitors' hours.
LMH (my college) is about as close to the science area as you can get, if proximity to the department is important to you.
I like being here because a) it's not a very big college and therefore not as scary/imposing as some of the bigger ones like e.g. Magdalen; b) the tourists don't know it's here despite being spitting distance from Keble so we're not really plagued by the big red tourist fun bus. LMH tends to host conferences more often than play up to tourism; c) we're right in between town and Summertown, leaving us with a bigger selection of shops and restaurants to play with; d) we're in a very pretty residential area that's much quieter than being in the town centre; e) even then we're only a 10-minute bike ride from the city centre, max; f) architecturally it's not huge and vulgar like e.g. Keble or modern and therefore somewhat disappointing and perhaps not fulfilling one's expectations of an Oxford college, e.g. St Catz. I'd say we fall somewhere in the middle!; g) we back onto the university parks/the Cherwell and the college itself has very generous grounds.
Not that I'm biased or anything I was pooled here from Magdalen (ironic in terms of what I've just said about the place) and whoever put me here made such an unbelievable good choice for me.
Sports-wise, because LMH is presumably smaller/less well-known we tend to pool our sports teams with other colleges. I know we collaborate with Trinity for one team and with Hertford for another. College has tennis courts and cricket...things
The only thing I'd say is that the facilities for undergrads are pretty poor here (i.e. the JCR is ****e ).
I would really recommend looking into less well-known colleges as well as the famous ones: do you really want to be a constant tourist attraction/have the constant noise from the city centre, for instance
LMH (my college) is about as close to the science area as you can get, if proximity to the department is important to you.
I like being here because a) it's not a very big college and therefore not as scary/imposing as some of the bigger ones like e.g. Magdalen; b) the tourists don't know it's here despite being spitting distance from Keble so we're not really plagued by the big red tourist fun bus. LMH tends to host conferences more often than play up to tourism; c) we're right in between town and Summertown, leaving us with a bigger selection of shops and restaurants to play with; d) we're in a very pretty residential area that's much quieter than being in the town centre; e) even then we're only a 10-minute bike ride from the city centre, max; f) architecturally it's not huge and vulgar like e.g. Keble or modern and therefore somewhat disappointing and perhaps not fulfilling one's expectations of an Oxford college, e.g. St Catz. I'd say we fall somewhere in the middle!; g) we back onto the university parks/the Cherwell and the college itself has very generous grounds.
Not that I'm biased or anything I was pooled here from Magdalen (ironic in terms of what I've just said about the place) and whoever put me here made such an unbelievable good choice for me.
Sports-wise, because LMH is presumably smaller/less well-known we tend to pool our sports teams with other colleges. I know we collaborate with Trinity for one team and with Hertford for another. College has tennis courts and cricket...things
The only thing I'd say is that the facilities for undergrads are pretty poor here (i.e. the JCR is ****e ).
I would really recommend looking into less well-known colleges as well as the famous ones: do you really want to be a constant tourist attraction/have the constant noise from the city centre, for instance
I've never met someone who can spit across an entire park :P
It's only a hop skip and a jump to Norham Road from Keble, and then we're only at the end of it. It just never ceases to amaze me that the tourists are quite happy to ignore a college that's only 5 mins down the road from one of the most famous (although admittedly it is tucked away).
It's only a hop skip and a jump to Norham Road from Keble, and then we're only at the end of it. It just never ceases to amaze me that the tourists are quite happy to ignore a college that's only 5 mins down the road from one of the most famous (although admittedly it is tucked away).
Well, the architecture at LMH is pretty understated by comparison. Personally, I didn't like it all that much when I was there for interview, but I think that wasn't least because of the shocking JCR and the stupid interviewer making fun of my handwriting
Well, the architecture at LMH is pretty understated by comparison. Personally, I didn't like it all that much when I was there for interview, but I think that wasn't least because of the shocking JCR and the stupid interviewer making fun of my handwriting
Yep...tis why I like it
It's a shame that the interviewer made fun of your handwriting, that's really rude and yes, the JCR is shocking!
Location: London (term-time), Liverpool (holidays)
Posts: 1,017
Re: Would you recommend a college?
Originally Posted by nexttime
merton ftw!!!
sorry, just practicing the whole loyalty thing...
You're going to be a Merton medic? He hasn't logged onto TSR for a while, but if you see Old Timer about, he's a Merton medic too - going into 5th year.
Personally, I think that even if you've chosen Balliol completely randomly, there's a really good chance you're going to come on the open day and love it. I'm genuinely not being biased here - the vast majority of people here DO chose randomly (first on the alphabet) then decide they love it after an open day. So I'm not going to make a big song and dance about what is lovely about us, because you're already coming on an open day here and you can make your own mind up. But DO check out places that get recommended here yourself, and remember that people on the internet...myself included...probably have different priorities from yourself.
So your gut reaction is probably actually more valid than the most well-reasoned post on here when it comes to college choice.
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Would you recommend a college?
Prepare to fall in love!
I just always thought the science area was a lot further from Worcester than it actually is - my scientist friends don't jump on their bikes til about 8.58!
so we're not really plagued by the big red tourist fun bus. LMH tends to host conferences more often than play up to tourism; c) we're right in between town and Summertown, leaving us with a bigger selection of shops and restaurants to play with; d) we're in a very pretty residential area that's much quieter than being in the town centre; e) even then we're only a 10-minute bike ride from the city centre, max; f) architecturally it's not huge and vulgar like e.g. Keble or modern and therefore somewhat disappointing and perhaps not fulfilling one's expectations of an Oxford college, e.g. St Catz. I'd say we fall somewhere in the middle!; g) we back onto the university parks/the Cherwell and the college itself has very generous grounds.
